Cotton lives in Central Texas and much like myself was affected by ‘The Texas Freeze’. He wrote me a nice note saying that normally he doesn’t respond to letters and just signs the cards, but that he too wished myself and my family well after what had happened to us.
Christian Harris played LB for Alabama from 2019-’21.
He had 220 total tackles, 10 sacks, 1 pick, 6 pass deflections, and 2 forced fumbles over his time at Tuscaloosa.
3rd round pick of the Houston Texans in 2022.
Had a low key good rookie year after coming off IR in late October.
Finished with 74 total tackles, 1 sack, 1 pick, 5 pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 12 contests in Lovie Smith’s Tampa 2.
In 2023, Harris took his game to the next level under former LB and new HC DeMeco Ryans.
Finished the season with 101 total tackles, 2 sacks, 7 pass deflections, and a forced fumble.
He routinely was making impressive solo stops, covering RBs sneaking out of the backfield or behind the line of scrimmage.
Powered up even more in the ’23 playoffs and had 8 tackles, a sack, a pass deflection, and an interception he returned 36 yards for a TD against Cleveland.
Against the Ravens in the Divisional Round, Harris harassed QB Lamar Jackson, before an injury slowed him down- and ultimately doomed the Texans chances of winning.
NOTES:
During the Texans playoff romp against Cleveland, Harris picked off QB Joe Flacco and returned the pass for a TD. I immediately went out to the EBay and picked up his Prestige 22. Apparently someone else felt the same way and bought the cheapest copy of his Contenders card out from under me, so I paid a buck or two more for this one.
Pretty satisfied with the cards. The Prestige is a really nice looking parallel. The Contenders card is a bit too dressed up. It just doesn’t have enough real estate for the player picture, but the empty space comes in at the last second and rescues it from being too busy.
CARDS: Score Supplemental 1989, Fleer 1990, Pro Set 1990, Gameday 1992, Gameday 1993, Gameday 1993 Gamebreaker, Topps Update 1990, Pro Set 1992, Pro Set 1991, Pro Set 1993, Pro Set Power 1992, Action Packed 1991, Skybox 1992, Skybox Premium 1992/3 ACQUIRED: GTSM 2023 FAILURE: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Maybe I got carried away here? Nah- Not for a paid signing. I consider this going…. ‘all out’. Lorenzo White is an enigmatic signer TTM, and even though I was lucky enough to get him once, I really wanted to replace more of these stamps in my collection (Score Supplemental 1989, Gameday 1992, Action Packed 1991). So I just figured why not get EVERYTHING signed I needed, especially at a bargain bin price of just 15 bucks an autograph. I then thought… well, why not take a photo with him too?
Besides the kerfluffle I experienced using digital versus printed out tickets, I was able to rib Lo a bit about Tecmo Super Bowl. You see in the game Lo is given a bad 44 ball control. (Yes, that previous season, he led the NFL with… I think 8(?) fumbles.) I told him he got the shaft in the game. He laughed briefly and told me, that well he showed everyone the next season (-a year in which he had over 1,000 yards rushing and some 1,800 total yards).
He was also very proud of the two big plays of his that always stick out in my mind: The draft video of him running down the field with one shoe on, and his catch and go against to beat the Cleveland Browns- when he galloped for some 70+ yards. When I asked him why he went to Cleveland… like if it was a hometown favorite of his, he said no, that it was all business.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
